The Serpent IN the Garden January 14, 1996 Houston

Corpus Christi Caller Times Silence & Robert Rowling's Inaction Allowed Abuser To Roam For 10 Years. The "respected" psychologist was eagerly supplied with young patients referred by the Corpus Christi Independent School District and local pediatricians. Plaisted pleaded guilty to 5 counts of aggravated sexual assault against 4 girls and was sentenced to 40 years in state prison. Source: Houston Chronicle 1/14/96

One subset of debt due the state is the amount owed by state employees. The Comptroller's warrant hold program reports that 10,343 state employees owed the state $44.3 million as of June 1996.[1] (Exhibit 1.) Currently, $28.3 million, or 63.9 percent, is owed through student loan programs. The Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation (TGSLC), which administers the federal guaranteed student loan program in Texas, is owed the largest proportion ($25.5 million, or 57.6 percent, of the total amount).[2] The debt held by TGSLC may be reinsured by the federal government. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's (THECB) Hinson-Hazelwood student loan program is owed $2.7 million, or 6.1 percent of the total amount.[3] Another $13.6 million (30.7 percent) is owed to the Attorney General for child support payments, while the remaining $2.4 million (5.5 percent) is due to the Comptroller's office for delinquent taxes and the Texas Workforce Commission for unemployment tax liability.[4]

Exhibit 1

State Debt Owed by State Employees, June 1996

Source: Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.

Warrant holds

The Comptroller's warrant hold program offers all state agencies a tool to collect outstanding debts. Fifty-two agencies currently participate. The warrant hold program applies only to non-salary payments and is fairly simple. An agency sends the Comptroller's office a request to participate in the program. The Comptroller's Claims Division asks the agency to identify the source of debt owed the state. The agency submits identification numbers for the debtors (either individuals or organizations) to the Claims Division. From then on, as the Comptroller's office prepares warrants, the debtors' identification numbers are electronically checked against the prepared warrants.

If a state employee to whom a warrant is made payable owes money to an agency participating in the program, the warrant is held by the Comptroller's office, and the agency on whose behalf the warrant was printed is notified that the individual will not receive the warrant. The employee is notified of the withheld warrant, the outstanding debt amount, and the amount of the warrant withheld. If the warrant is to be released, the employee must contact the agency owed and agree upon a payment plan. The agency holding the debt then must contact the Comptroller's office to release the warrant. The agency may choose to collect on a certain portion of the debt before the warrant is released, or to release the warrant as soon as a payment agreement is reached.

If a state employee owes delinquent taxes to the Comptroller's office, the Government Code SS403.055(g) gives the Comptroller the authority to apply the warrant to the total amount that individual owes the state. Taxes can be offset--applying the warrant to the delinquent debt--by warrants other than salary. Taxes and other debts to the state may also be offset by lottery winnings, as authorized by the Government Code SS466.407.

Wage garnishment

In addition to warrant hold, the state also may collect debts through garnishment, a process by which part of an involuntary deduction is made from an individual's wages to repay a debt. Wage garnishment is a severe measure and one that is used only rarely. Under present law, Texas may garnish current wages for only two forms of debt: child support payments and student loans. The Texas Constitution specifically prohibits garnishment except in court-ordered child support cases, but federal law has superseded the constitution in the case of student loan repayment.

The Texas Supreme Court ruled in Orange County, Texas v. Ware, a 1991 decision, that the Texas constitutional prohibition against garnishment of current wages does not apply to an employer's withholding of an employee's compensation until the employee's debt to the employer is paid. The Court ruled that a garnishment occurs only when three parties are involved: the employer, the employee, and the third party creditor. Thus, holding a state employee's paycheck because the employee is indebted to the state would not appear to be an unconstitutional garnishment. It might be possible for the state to hold a salary payment if the applicable laws were changed.

Child support enforcement

Enactment of the federal Child Support Enforcement Act (P.L. 93-647) in 1975 strengthened the public's commitment to address the problem of nonsupport of children, with program administration left to the states. This commitment was further enhanced by the Family Support Act of 1988 (P.L. 100-485) which required states to impose wage withholding on the noncustodial parent in all new or modified child support enforcement program cases. As of January 1, 1994, states were required to provide for immediate wage withholding for all support orders issued, regardless of whether a parent has applied for child support enforcement services.

Child support payments are generated through court orders. Custodial parents failing to receive child support payments may apply for collection services through the Office of the Attorney General (OAG). OAG also may begin collection services if a custodial parent applies for Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) benefits and is not receiving child support payments. OAG attempts to persuade the non-custodial parent to pay current and past-due child support. If this effort is unsuccessful, OAG then may begin the garnishment process by serving the non-custodial parent's employer with a court order or writ of withholding to turn over a portion of the parent's compensation. OAG may garnish up to 50 percent of the parent's disposable earnings to satisfy the debt. The specific amount is set by the court order or writ.

According to the warrant hold information, $13.6 million is owed the OAG for child support payments--$832,000 of which is owed by employees whose child or children receive AFDC and $12.8 million owed in non-AFDC cases. The federal government reimburses the state 66 percent of the costs related to child support enforcement.[5] In 1995, the state paid about 37 percent of the cost of AFDC and is entitled to the same proportion of the additional AFDC-related child support collections.[6]

Collection of outstanding student loans

In 1991, the federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act (P.L. 102-164; 20 U.S.C. SS1095a et seq.) gave TGSLC the ability to garnish up to 10 percent of a debtor's disposable pay. TGSLC may continue to garnish wages until the defaulted loan has been paid in full. TGSLC has established criteria for wage withholding. Wages may be withheld if an employee has at least $400 outstanding, a $12,000 salary, and a collection account that is being worked by a TGSLC collector.[7] TGSLC reports that most state workers with unresolved collection accounts (those in which no payment has been made in at least 60 days) who are candidates for wage withholding do not have large salaries. As of August 1996, 55 percent earned less than $20,000 a year, and 96 percent earned less than $30,000 annually.[8]

June 1996 data from the Comptroller's warrant hold program indicate that almost 5,600 state employees, or about 2.1 percent of total full-time equivalent employees, are in default on student loans. The total amount in default is $28.3 million.[9]

State employees owe TGSLC, THECB, and 20 institutions of higher education student loan debt. Information from the Comptroller's warrant hold program indicates that 4,600 employees owe TGSLC about $25.5 million, an amount representing about 90 percent of the total student loan debt of state employees.

The other state program with a substantial student loan debt is the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's Hinson-Hazelwood Program. The agency is due $2.7 million (9.5 percent of the total student loan debt) from state employees, according to data from the warrant hold program. The remaining 20 agencies (which comprise only about 0.5 percent of state employee student loan debt) are institutions of higher education, including the Texas State Technical College System, medical schools, and community colleges.[10]

Limitations to state collection programs

Several limits to the effectiveness of wage garnishment and warrant holds exist. The biggest limit to wage garnishment is that it can be used for only two state-administered programs. A constitutional amendment or a new federal law would be required to expand the program.

The largest limitation in the warrant hold program is that there is not a mandatory usage of the Comptroller's system. Moreover, the warrant hold program is effective only if an employee receives payments other than salary compensation. Debt for a state employee who never or rarely travels, for instance, could remain uncollected.

Another factor is the amount of time needed to collect a debt through warrant hold. A warrant is valid for two years, and the Comptroller's Claims Division reports that a fair number of withheld warrants simply expire. This occurs for any number of reasons; in some cases, the debtor never contacts the agency owed to work out a plan, or the agency owed chooses not to release the warrant. In at least some cases, at any rate, a withheld warrant is not a sufficient motive to prompt debtors to begin paying their debts. Some debtors may consider multiple withheld warrants sufficient cause to begin paying a debt, but generating that number of warrants may take months or even years.

A final limitation on the warrant hold program is that little aggregate information is available regarding collections and debts owed the state. The Comptroller's Claims Division receives information from agencies about outstanding debt to generate warrant holds, but agencies are not obligated to update this information after the initial data have been submitted.

Recommendations

A. State law should be amended to broaden the Comptroller's warrant hold program and require mandatory participation by all state agencies and institutions of higher education.

The Comptroller's warrant hold program applies only to warrants issued by the Comptroller's office. The program could be expanded so that any payments by the state would be withheld until debts owed by people receiving state payments are cleared.

Ultimately, the program could be expanded so that debtors to the state would be precluded from receiving licenses and permits.

B. State law should be amended to allow the Comptroller's office to promulgate and enforce rules regarding the submission of updated warrant hold information from state agencies and institutions of higher education to ensure accuracy.

C. State law should be amended to allow for the automatic offset of liabilities against warrants issued by the state.

This provision would allow a warrant that is issued and held to be applied against a debt owed the state, treating all debts like taxes are currently treated. This recommendation should not be applicable to salary payments.

D. State law should be amended to require automatic payroll deductions for state employees with delinquent debt payments.

If a state employee becomes delinquent in his or her repayment of debts to the state, the owed agency should be able to set up a payroll deduction automatically to repay the debt. For those deductions not established by federal or state law, the Comptroller's office should use its current statutory authority to establish the priority of deductions.

E. State law should be amended to allow the Comptroller's office to adopt a warrant hold policy relating to state salaries.

Using the Comptroller's warrant hold program to hold a state employee's paycheck because the employee is indebted to the state would not appear to be an unconstitutional garnishment.

Many state employees may not know that they owe a debt to the state until a warrant is issued and held. Notices of delinquency should be sent to all employees owing a debt by the agency owed, along with information regarding repayment procedures. Upon receipt of the notice, the delinquent employee would be responsible for contacting the owed agency to voluntarily set up a payment plan.

If no contact was made by the employee, the owed agency would be obligated to notify the Comptroller's office, the employee, and the employing agency that the employee's paycheck will be held. Arrangements for payment toward the debt would have to be made before the owed agency releases the warrant. As mentioned earlier, the Comptroller's office has the authority to establish the priority of payments for debts that neither federal nor state law address.

Provisions for enforcement would have to be made by the agency owed for those employees who are paid with local funds. The owed agency would have to determine which state employees are paid with local funds, and would then be obligated to establish a payment plan for the delinquent employee. The owed agency would have to notify the employee of the impending deduction and submit the payment plan to the employing agency for enforcement of the deduction.

Fiscal Impact

A stricter approach to collecting debt owed the state by state employees would presumably increase the amount of debt collected by the state. Implementation of these recommendations would require programming changes to the Texas Payee Information System and the Uniform Statewide Personnel/Payroll, incurring some costs which would be absorbed by the Comptroller's office. The cost of this recommendation is negligible.

Footnotes

[1] Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Count of State Employees on Hold, June 24, 1996, pp. 1-17. (Statistical report.)

[2] Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Count of State Employees on Hold, pp. 9-12.

[3] Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Count of State Employees on Hold, pp. 6-8.

[4] Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Count of State Employees on Hold, pp. 1-17.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Letter to Santa leads to Texas molestation charge

AP – This booking mug released by the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office shows Andres Enrique Cantu, 55, of Pharr, …

PHARR, Texas – Police in south Texas say a 9-year-old girl's letter to Santa may have finally stopped a nightmare of sexual abuse for her and her 10-year-old sister.

Police allege that for as long as four years, Andres Enrique Cantu sexually abused the girls in their bedrooms while they slept or did their homework. Cantu is a computer lab aide at an alternative high school but has not been accused of crimes against students there.

The white-haired Cantu, 55, shuffled into court in leg irons and handcuffs for the second time in less than a week Tuesday to face a charge of continuous sexual abuse of a young child. He did not have an attorney present.

The 9-year-old's plea to Santa, written as a school assignment, launched the investigation and led to the first charge of continuous sexual abuse last week. On Tuesday, Cantu was accused of abusing the girl's older sister, who was also mentioned in the letter.

Investigators have refused to share the letter to Santa, saying it is evidence in an ongoing investigation. But the charging affidavit described it as "a wish list to Santa" asking that the girl's relative stop touching her and her sister.

Pharr Police spokesman Lt. Guadalupe Salinas said the girls' mother had been unaware of any abuse but that the relative had moved out of the home after an earlier falling out.

The Associated Press is not identifying the relationship of the man to the girls to protect their identities.

The girl submitted the letter to Santa to her teacher at Cesar Chavez Elementary School in Pharr on Thursday as part of a class assignment, said Arianna Hernandez, spokeswoman for the Pharr-Alamo-San Juan Independent School District.

The teacher told a school counselor, who notified police, Hernandez said.

Cantu had worked in the neighboring McAllen Independent School District for 11 years, most recently in the computer lab at Lamar Academy. He was arrested at the school Friday.

Mark May, a spokesman for the McAllen district, said Cantu would have taught students "at times" as a computer lab aide but that there were "no reports, nothing to suggest that anything has occurred at school."

The district's policy is to place employees facing serious charges on administrative leave, May said.

Cantu was being held at the Hidalgo County Detention Center. His bond was set at $100,000 for the first charge and at $250,000 for the second.

Continuous sexual abuse is a first-degree felony that carries a mandatory sentence of at least 25 years and up to 99 years in prison.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales covered up a major pedophile scandalWed, 28 Mar 2007 11:49:00The war criminal in the living room The war criminal in the living roomThe media is silent, Congress is absent, andAttorney General Alberto Gonzales' "loyal Bushie" U.S. Attorney for Western Texas covered up a major pedophile scandal with the connivance of the Justice Department's Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, already under pressure for firing several U.S. Attorneys not considered "loyal Bushies," now faces another scandal. Albert Moskowitz, the Chief of the Criminal Section of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, sent a letter dated September 27, 2005, to the Superintendent of the Texas Youth Commission's West Texas State School youth detention facility declining the prosecution of two of the Texas agency's employees -- Ray Brookins and John Hernandez -- for engaging in sexual molestation of 10 underage males incarcerated at the facility. The charges of molestation were originally brought by Texas Ranger Brian J. Burzynski. Earlier, in a July 28, 2005 letter, the Assistant US Attorney for West Texas, Bill Baumann, who works for US Attorney Johnny Sutton, a close friend of Gonzales, sent a letter to Burzynski declining federal prosecution in the pedophile case. In a decision that indicates that the Gonzales Justice Department defines child molestation in very narrow and high threshold terms, Baumann wrote that the young men at the West Texas facility that claimed they were raped by Brookins and Hernandez did not sustain "bodily injury" or "bodily pain." Baumann also defined aggravated sexual assault as resulting from a "perpetrator knowingly causing his victim to engage in a sexual act (which can include contact between the mouth and penis) by force against the victim or by threatening or placing the victim in fear that the victim (or any other person) will be subjected to death, serious bodily injury or kidnapping). Baumann stated, "I do not believe that sufficient evidence exists to support a charge that either Brookins or Hernandez used force to cause victims to engage in a sexual act."

Astonishingly, Baumann also writes that "none of the victims admit they consented to the sexual contact" with the juvenile facility employees. However, Baumann then suggests that the underage males came on to the prison guards and were "simply 'getting off' on the school administrator. Baumann also indicates that "many students" were "retained at the West Texas State School long after their initial release date" but that "it would be difficult to prove that either Mr. Brookins or Mr. Hernandez prevented their release." The clear indication is that Brookins and Hernandez kept the boys incarcerated in order to continue to sodomize them. Baumann, who appears to be borrowing heavily from the tracts of the North American Man-Boy Love Association (NAMBLA), suggests that sex between the underage males and detention facility personnel is perfectly legitimate as long as the sex is consensual. There are also reports that detained youth in the Texas Youth system are transported from various facilities for purposes of prostitution.

After the allegations about abuse at the West Texas detention facility became public, Hernandez was forced to resign as principal at a Midland, Texas charter school. A Ward County grand jury is investigating the case.

There are now reports that pedophilia extends to other youth detention facilities in Texas. The Texas Sheltered Care Facility in Nixon, in south Texas, is being investigated for the abuse, including sexual molestation of detained Latin American immigrant youth housed at the center. The facility is operated by Away from Home, Inc. Some 72 children were relocated from the facility after the abuse charges were raised. The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services investigated the Nixon facility and hreferred the case to US Attorney Johnny Sutton and the FBI. However, once again, Sutton decided "the alleged activity, which as the focus of the investigation, could likely be more effectively addressed by the state of Texas prosecutorial authorities." FBI agent Erik Vasys told the Houston Chronicle that the FBI was "disappointed" in the failure of the Justice Department to bring charges. Presidential adviser Karl Rove has been implicated by child welfare advocates in Texas in the failure of the Justice Department to prosecute the Texas child abuse and pedophilia cases. Indictments in the case prepared by the US Attorney for West Texas were reportedly spiked on the orders of the White House and Justice Department.

Baumann states that Burzynski "thoroughly investigated the allegations brought to your attention by the Texas Youth Commission" and promptly interviewed all witnesses and victims, gathered appropriate documentation from school officials and executed a federal search warrant at the residence of Mr. Hernandez at West Texas State School in Pyote." Baumann concludes, " It is my opinion, however, that our office's resources would be better employed investigating and prosecuting cases involving more clearly defined violations of federal criminal law."

The decision of the Gonzales Justice Department to decline prosecution of pedophiles within the Texas Youth Commission juvenile detention system mirrors its failure to take prompt action last year in the case of former Representative Mark Foley (R-FL), whose e-mails with underage male congressional pages were turned over to the Justice Department for investigation. On October 3, 2006, WMR reported the following:

"WMR has learned from informed sources in the Justice Department that the salacious e-mails from Rep. Mark Foley were leaked to ABC News by career Justice Department prosecutors and FBI agents who are incensed that Attorneys General John Ashcroft and Alberto Gonzales covered up the House page scandal for political reasons. The back story of Pagegate is that there was a criminal conspiracy by the top political leadership of the Justice Department to cover up the predatory activities of Foley and other GOP members of Congress since at least 2003 and, likely, as early as 2001."

Rove and Gonzales look out for the interests of NAMBLA in the latest scandal to rock the Bush administration. Bush family continues its long family tradition of promoting and protecting pedophiles.

The GOP Congress and the Justice Department, under orders from the White House, successfully covered up the Pagegate scandal. Similar acts of pedophilia involving sodomy and other sexually explicit conduct with underage males were carried out at the U.S. detention center in Abu Ghraib, Iraq. The Donald Rumsfeld Pentagon, with the support of the White House, covered up those incidents. Pedophilia and the Bush family spans two generations. George H. W. Bush covered up a major prostitution scandal involving underage males in the late 1980s. The scandal involved the use of child prostitutes and congressional pages, some of whom were given midnight tours of the Bush White House by the late GOP lobbyist Craig Spence. According to The Franklin Coverup: Child Abuse, Satanism and Murder in Nebraska, by former Nebraska Republican State Senator John DeCamp, the 1980s scandal also involved Nebraska's Boys Town orphanage, child prostitutes from around the country, NAMBLA, top GOP officials in Nebraska, including Franklin Savings and Loan chief Lawrence ("Larry') King. The Franklin Scandal, as it is known, also implicated George H. W. Bush in at least one sexual encounter with a 19-year old African American male named Brent.

Pedophilia and the Bush family also extend to Florida. While Jeb Bush was governor, the Florida Department of Children and Families "lost" a number of computer files and falsified other files implicating state employees and foster parents in serious cases of child abuse. There were also cases of children in state care, including a five-year old Miami girl being "lost." Democratic state legislators in Florida laid direct blame for the incidents at the feet of Jeb Bush.

Note: There is no middle ground with pedophilia. Either government officials prosecute pedophile offenders or they do not. If they do not, it is clear that they are either pedophiles themselves or aid and abet in pedophile activities. In either case, it is a crime. Congress and the FBI should take a close look at Alberto Gonzales, Albert Moskowitz, Johnny Sutton, Bill Baumann, and Karl Rove.

If an article has been reprinted in full, The Intelligence Daily has either secured permission to publish it and/or the original news source has allowed other websites to publish its material under fair use.

4.5 / 5 (23 Votes)

Jamespinkerton.blogspot.com

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* Alberto.....Ramsey in Atlantic party or just Colorado stupid....call for a Carr - By #$%0#$%0#$%0 September 3, 2007 at 11:52:13 PM

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Did you not receive the attachment word doc? The original email went to you and a private investigator by the name of Don Shawver. Don Shawver conducted an investigation on DMC Regent Linda Garcia. We feel it is in the Public's Right to know the details of this investigation and the person or entity who funded it. Did the Caller Times hire Mr Shawver and if so why not the same scrutiny of all the other candidates? A DMC Public Records Requests turned out nothing significant except the fact that DMC answered it (the FOIA request) readily before the time period. I understand that there is an agreement between the In House Counsel (DMC) and the Caller as there is a recording of the in house counsel responding to what he believed to be a Caller TImes Reporter. The Reporter was questioning the in house counsel regarding the following published FOIA request:

-CORRECTION- CORRECTION: The Citizens Commission on Human Rights was established by the Church of Scientology, but is not funded by the church. Correction published 1/28/96.

-COLUMN-

-CATEGORY-

-WORD COUNT- 2908

-TEXT- .

CORPUS CHRISTI - James Plaisted was a respected child psychologist, a deacon in one of the city's largest Baptist congregations and the father of four.

He also was a child molester so brazen he escorted little girls into church and fondled them under his coat while listening to the sermon.

Parents knew. So did church pastors, school officials and state regulators. But few did anything to stop him, and those who tried were remarkably unsuccessful.

It took 10 years to get Plaisted behind bars. Only he knows how many children he molested during that time.

Last month, Plaisted - already serving a two-year federal prison term for luring a Texas patient to Boston to continue molesting her -was brought back to Corpus Christi in chains.

He pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting four girls and was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

State regulators have yet to revoke his license to practice psychology.

""I think the Plaisted case is the model of what happens when the system fights with itself," said Susan Snyder, a Kingsville attorney and former prosecutor who tried to lock up Plaisted in 1992.

""Obviously, there have been safeguards in place to prevent this man all along, but either (state officials) were too lazy or too busy, or too scared of the politics of going and yanking this man's license," Snyder said. ""It's not the legal system failing. It's the people within the legal system that refuse to let the legal system work."

It's not as if no one tried.

Carmen Alvarado, the mother of the first child to accuse Plaisted more than 10 years ago, sought criminal charges against the therapist and filed an ethics complaint with the Texas Board of Examiners of Psychologists. She alleged that Plaisted had fondled her son's penis during a late-night counseling session.

Alvarado called the Parkdale Baptist Church, where Plaisted, 46, was a deacon.

""They said they were leaving it in God's hands," she recalled.

""I don't think they were thinking straight at the time."

She went to other parents. She got no help.

In the end, it was just her son's word against Plaisted, who told a Corpus Christi jury in 1986 that the 6-year-old child was a habitual liar and a pyromaniac who derived sexual excitement from setting fires. It didn't help that a new prosecutor was assigned to the case just before trial.

The jury acquitted Plaisted; his practice continued.

""It made me mad because when I went for help, all I asked was for them to testify," Alvarado recalled. ""We lost because my son was the only witness we had."

""It was a very tough call to make," said another victim's mother. ""And looking back, I really should have crucified him, but I didn't. I chose not to after talking to my attorney. He told me it would just really traumatize my daughter."

The Corpus Christi woman, who asked not to be identified, said she did confront Plaisted and his wife, who were neighbors in 1984, when her daughter was allegedly molested while spending the night with one of Plaisted's daughters.

""He did not deny it," she said. ""He said he could have done it

in his sleep."

Plaisted's wife laughingly added that she and her husband often made love at night, and he would not remember the next morning, the woman said.

The woman, who was also a member of the Parkdale Baptist Church, recalled telling church officials later about Plaisted's molestations.

""But it didn't seem to make any difference," she said. ""The church really backed him up, and a lot of people left the church after that."

Plaisted's attorney, Doug Tinker, refused to allow the Chronicle to interview his client. The criminal defense lawyer, who earlier this year represented Yolanda Saldivar, who was convicted of murdering Tejano star Selena, declined to discuss the Plaisted case.

The victims' families have since sued the church for negligence, but Parkdale's lawyer argues the congregation should not be held responsible for Plaisted's actions.

""It would be the church's wish to get this thing resolved without causing any additional hurt to anyone," said attorney Van Huseman. But he added, ""If a child gets molested in the middle of the service, how does that get to be the pastor's fault?"

Plaisted - a Nebraska native who served in the Army in Vietnam -came to Corpus Christi in 1982 with impeccable credentials, having earned his doctorate in clinical and child psychology from Auburn University in Alabama in 1981.

He quickly built a private practice, and over the years, developed a good reputation as an expert on brain dysfunction.

The Corpus Christi school district, along with local pediatricians, eagerly supplied him with young patients - even after he had been publicly charged. Members of the church also sought his help, and he had hospital privileges at the prestigious Driscoll Children's Hospital, a South Texas institution known both for quality care and charity.

Neighbors described Plaisted as pleasant, reserved, well-spoken. He was methodical, they said, and liked to work on projects around the house.

Plaisted recruited some of his victims from broken homes, showering the children with gifts, inviting them and their parents to Thanksgiving dinners. One 9-year-old girl who spent the night with Plaisted's daughter told prosecutors the psychologist molested her on the sofa in his living room while he and the children watched the movie "Home Alone"

on video.

He curried favor with his victims' parents by lending them money and refusing repayment, or by buying them air conditioners and other gifts. One mother even acted as a character witness for the therapist during the Alvarado trial, unaware that her own child was being molested.

""The bottom line is this guy had complaints filed against him at the psychology board - and they are serious - and the board doesn't notify the school about the complaints," said Jerry Boswell, director of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, a group funded by the Church of Scientology (SEE CORRECTION) that documents cases such as Plaisted's. ""And the school is still referring children to this guy."

Corpus Christi school administrators said they used Plaisted infrequently for psychological testing of students, although school records and correspondence indicate he was a consultant from 1983 until he was indicted for child sexual assault in late 1992.

School administrators have identified records of five students referred to him for psychological testing between 1985 and 1992. There are no records prior to 1985.

School board President Henry Nuss, who has served on the board for seven years, said he first heard of the Plaisted case when he was contacted by the Houston Chronicle last week.

""We certainly should be more selective in who we're using," he said.

After Plaisted was charged in the Alvarado case in April 1986, Robert J. Garcia, the school district's special education director, wrote to the state psychology board to ask about the psychologist's record. The agency's executive director replied that Plaisted's license had been suspended, but because the psychologist was in the process of suing to get it back, he remained licensed to practice. The letter gave no details about the nature of the complaints.

""He was given a clean bill of health by the only agency that had anything to say about it," said Dr. Adrian Haston, a psychologist who coordinates the school district's psychological services, and who, years ago, shared an office with Plaisted.

Haston emphasized that none of the schoolchildren referred to Plaisted were molested. ""And we never had anything untoward, any problems of that sort," he said.

Asked why the district would risk using a psychologist once accused of being a child molester, Haston replied, ""This is something the district did, and you can ask the director of special education why."

Garcia said in a recent telephone interview that he could not remember whether he knew about the child molestation charges at the time he wrote to the psychology board.

""All I know is we asked for what his status was and they said he could still practice," he said. ""We knew he was under review, but we didn't know what for.

""Look, the state board of psychologists, they're the ones that allowed him to continue to practice," Garcia added angrily.

""If anyone should be asked as to why this guy was allowed to continue, it should be the state board of psychology."

Pressed for further details, Garcia abruptly ended the interview and hung up the phone.

Although Plaisted was acquitted in August 1986 in the Alvarado case, the psychology board continued its investigation and ruled in November of that year that Plaisted had violated professional standards.

The board officially suspended his license for two years, but said he would be allowed to resume his practice in three months.

Meanwhile, Plaisted challenged the suspension in state district court in Austin, arguing the psychology board had unfairly considered allegations that had not been introduced during his hearing, denying him the opportunity to defend himself against them. The judge agreed, and in January 1987 reversed Plaisted's suspension.

While the board was investigating Plaisted's case, they were contacted by Corpus Christi psychologist George Kramer.

Kramer, who had hired Plaisted in 1982 before Plaisted was licensed, told the board to subpoena records of the state Department of Human Resources. It did, and found other instances of alleged molestation by Plaisted.

In April 1989, the board reached an agreement with the psychologist that allowed him to keep his license if he agreed to be supervised for 11/2years. Plaisted was to treat children only in the presence of an associate or in a location where he could be observed by a television monitor. He also was to pay to have Corpus Christi psychologist Joseph Horvat supervise his casework.

Horvat met with Plaisted weekly, but after a year - convinced that Plaisted was doing nothing wrong - he recommended the supervision be terminated six months early. The board decided to continue the supervision.

""I have found no evidence in any way, shape or form of any behavior on his part which could be in any way construed as unprofessional or unethical," Horvat wrote to the board.

Included in one of his reports to the board was a review of Plaisted's treatment of an 8-year-old girl - a child Plaisted was later charged with molesting.

The board's general counsel, Barbara Holthaus, acknowledged past actions taken by the agency were inadequate.

""With hindsight, of course it wasn't appropriate, because look at what happened," Holthaus said. But she said the board has since added lay people to its ranks and has a new, tougher state law giving it better enforcement powers.

""Now, if we get a report that a psychologist is molesting a client, we can go before a judge and say we want to temporarily suspend the license," she said.

Holthaus said the board has filed a motion to revoke Plaisted's license, but Plaisted is fighting it.

""It's all kind of moot, because he's incarcerated," she said.

Soon after Plaisted completed his board-ordered supervision, Corpus Christi police received new information from state child welfare workers that Plaisted had been molesting girls at his office, in church and at home in his hot tub.

Former detective Eric Michalak, who now works in Colorado, remembered taking the Plaisted case to a Nueces County assistant district attorney for prosecution.

""He wanted to get a warrant for the doctor and arrest him, because we had very strong evidence against him," Michalak said. ""We had multiple victims and you had a guy in the position he was in, where he had access to all these victims.

You would want to take quick action rather than let it go on for so long."

The prosecutor was overruled by then-District Attorney Grant Jones, Michalak said. ""(Jones) just said, `We're not getting a warrant. We're taking our time.' He wanted the kids reinterviewed by one of the prosecutors.

""Any time you go after someone like that, there's a lot of politics that come into play," Michalak added. ""Instead of stepping in right then, and bringing it out in the open and taking it to a grand jury (for indictment), they delayed."

Jones contends that any delay in prosecution was an effort ""to tie the case down tight. We didn't want to lose him twice,"

said Jones, on whose watch Plaisted was acquitted in the Alvarado case.

Jones called it ""outrageous" the psychology board still hasn't revoked Plaisted's license.

""They should have done it in 1986," he said. ""What they want to do is wait around until you go to trial and you convict him, and then they come in behind your conviction and revoke his license. Well, what's he doing in the meantime? He could be out in the community molesting kids for two years."

Michalak said the case was finally taken to the grand jury several months later after he leaked the information about Plaisted's investigation to the local media.

""It was taking too long, and it wasn't being handled like another case," he said. ""And it was because he was so prominent in the community."

Plaisted was finally indicted in Corpus Christi in October 1992. He posted bond, closed his practice in Corpus Christi, and negotiated an agreement with the psychology board to place his license on inactive status until he could prove his innocence.

He then moved to Boston, where he enrolled in Boston University Law School and successfully completed his first year of studies by May 1994.

While in law school, Plaisted began calling a former patient - the girl whose treatment Horvat had reviewed in Corpus Christi. Plaisted convinced the girl's mother - who was also a patient of his - to bring the girl to Boston for additional therapy.

Plaisted's plans were foiled when a policeman setting up a speed trap in his neighborhood accidentally intercepted on his police radio a sexually explicit telephone call between the girl and Plaisted, who was using a cordless phone.

FBI agents were called in, six other calls were taped, and Plaisted was arrested on June 3, 1994, after he met the girl, then 13, and her mother at the train station and took them to a budget motel.

""The mother wasn't aware" of the molestations, said Adolfo Aguilo, an assistant Nueces County district attorney. ""The mother had a borderline personality disorder - she developed dependency on people -and unfortunately for her the person she developed a dependency on was Dr. Plaisted."

Sgt. Michael Harpster, a police detective from suburban Boston who helped arrest Plaisted, described him as ""very congenial, almost shy."

""He'd answer questions very courteously, but he didn't show any outward signs of knowing the seriousness of the situation," Harpster said.

Last January, Plaisted was sentenced by a federal judge in Boston to a two-year prison term after he pleaded guilty to transporting a minor across state lines to engage in illegal sexual activity.

The Corpus Christi conviction and sentence came almost a year later.

In the end, Plaisted admitted molesting four victims. But prosecutors say no one will ever know how many others failed to come forward.

""I imagine there could be several other victims. Through his practice and the church he probably had access over the years to thousands of children," said Aguilo, the Corpus Christi prosecutor who eventually secured Plaisted's guilty plea.

""To me, any kid that came in contact with this guy was a victim in some way or another," added Michalak.

When Plaisted was sentenced last month, it was a bitter emotional meeting for many of his young victims and their parents, who had been called as witnesses in case Plaisted decided against the plea bargain.

Parents said Plaisted stood up straight, held his head high and looked the judge in the eye. And when he saw the relatives of his former victims, he acted as if he were attending a reunion of old friends, they said. One parent said Plaisted looked as if he thought they were there as supporters or character witnesses.

""He turned around and gave the families a big smile," Alvarado said. ""I couldn't believe it."

Alvarado, who sued Plaisted in civil court, has received a settlement for an undisclosed amount. Her son, now a teen-ager, is still struggling with his past abuse, she said, and she continues to feel betrayed by those who would not join her in speaking out years ago.

""I told them if they had helped me in the beginning, none of this would have happened," she said.

Plaisted timeline

Key dates in the career of Dr. James R. Plaisted:

January 1983: Licensed to practice psychology in Texas.

October 1984: Investigated by Texas Department of Human Resources for allegedly molesting a neighbor's child.

April 1986: Charged in criminal case for allegedly fondling a boy during therapy.

August 1986: Acquitted by jury in Corpus Christi.

October 1992: Indicted for sexual abuse of three Corpus Christi girls.

December 1992: Closed Corpus Christi office; moved to Boston to begin law school.

June 1994: Arrested by FBI agents for luring a 13-year-old former Corpus Christi patient to Boston.

January 1995: Indicted by Corpus Christi grand jury on three counts of aggravated sexual assault for incidents years earlier involving the same girl.

January 1995: Sentenced to two years in federal prison in Boston case.

Dec. 7, 1995: Sentenced to 40 years in state prison by a Corpus Christi judge after pleading guilty to five counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child.

Do a little research on Del Mar College's in house counsel, Sean Meredeth, DMC Auditorium, Ballet Nacional, little girls, Joe Alaniz, and the relationship with our DA

Why is this evidence not included in the current prosecution of Villa?

Why not drag the whole bunch down to the Courthouse?

Friends of the Prosecution or not, enough of the selective prosecutions. Plaisted, Applebee, and the one's who covered it up at Parkdale Baptist & St Joseph's here in the Jurisdiction of the Nueces County / 105th District Attorney. Zealously